When the news of old Henry's disappearance broke at the Berkley Hotel, most of the residents went into a mild state of shock. Nothing like this had ever happened previously, so soon speculation as to what had happened to him, ran rife through the breakfast-room. Maureen thought she'd seen him flitting around in the garden with a blonde floozy at around midnight, while another woman said she thought he might have gone to the Chelsea Flower Show, and Lulu said he'd talked about visiting Prague, while his ex-wife, Irene, thought he'd been abducted by aliens.
All this added up to the police becoming completely confused, so they continued with their search through the hotel and also in the grounds, but found nothing, as even his pj's were neatly folded on his pillow.
Then there was a phone call for Henry on the desk phone and when the receptionist told the woman that Henry was missing and what the other residents thought had happened, she laughed and said none of it was true, as she knew exactly where Henry was. Unfortunately, she then ended the call without revealing her thinking on the subject, so the police continued with their search, but didn't find him.
So the following morning at breakfast when a dishevelled Henry walked in, everyone demanded to know where he'd been and why he'd gone off without telling anyone. But Henry, who couldn't understand their anxiety for his safety, went on to explain that he'd seen a photo in the newspaper of a woman he'd once been madly in love with, that was now living under a bridge with some tramps. He told them he had wanted to rescue her and bring her back with him, but that unfortunately he'd decided not to do this, as she no longer had long golden hair and she spoke in a rough manner.
The detective then told him to give love a second chance, since they had both aged. But Henry clung to his fantasies and said that he could only be with a woman, who could make him feel like turning cartwheels all over the front lawn or at least make the earth move for him, the way Sarah had done in the very distant past. He even added that he needed to feel the passion he'd once felt whenever they'd met.
The detective said this was never going to happen again, but old Henry touched his heart and said, "But I can still have dreams, can't I?" Before going on to tell a young policeman, that until he found a woman, who could do all those things for him, he had not found his true love.
